Meeting of Monarchs
by TorontoBatFan
Summary: In November of 1985, Owen and Abby -the Vampire King and Queen of Montana- attend the annual conference for vampire monarchs, in Collinsport, Maine. What happens when they meet the Vampire King of Maine, Barnabas Collins?


_Greetings to readers of both my _Let Me In _and _Dark Shadows_ fanfics. Welcome to my first ever Crossover fic. I know I'm not as skilled a Crossover artist as Mecha-74, but I hope this isn't too bad. It was a rough one to write...about five or so solid hours of typing. :-D_

_I'm not sure if people buy my explanation for why Carolyn and Abby are dead ringers for each other...but I think I came up with a fair solution. LOL_

_Amy Jennings is a character from the original _Dark Shadows _series. She was a cousin who came to live at Collinwood. I guess you could say that the mentions of her are spoilers for future DS fics I have planned. :-D Speaking of which, my idea is that Carolyn goes to Dartmouth because it's the only Ivy League school that is situated in a rural setting. Thus, she'd have close access to the mountains and forests of New Hampshire if she's unable to make it home to Collinwood on the night of the full moon._ _Incidentally, I envision her studying business so she can be ready to take over the family's business operations someday._

_As for David, Bowdoin College is in Brunswick, Maine. It's the alma-mater of Richard Hooker (the author of the book _M*A*S*H*_) and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a hero of the Battle of Gettysburg who later became Governor of Maine._

_BTW, I also mention characters from _True Blood _as well. However, there's no direct interaction with them. That'll be later stories. LOL_

_Reviews are pretty easy to do now at FF.N! (That's a semi-blatant hint, btw. LOL)_

_And awayyyyy we go. :-)_

* * *

November, 1985

An icy cold, damp gale blew in from the North Atlantic, driving white-capped waves crashing against the beach at Widow's Hill. High above the beach, atop the cliff, Collinwood Manor sat silently in the cold autumn night.

Very few lights shone from the windows of the main part of the huge mansion. However, in the old wing, a part of the house that had been long disused in the original Collinwood and had almost never been used in the rebuilt house, lights shone brightly from the windows. In a large room, that had originally been a ballroom, fifty desks with chairs had been arranged in a semi-circle facing a lectern and chairs. Facing the assembled desks, a pale speaker gave a rambling speech. Watching him, were the assembled group at the desks. The audience varied in how old they appeared and their gender. What they held in common was almost all were dressed in dark coloured suits or dresses, and all were quite pale. Indeed, if a casual observer had entered the room and thought that it looked like the assembled group didn't get a lot of sun, they'd be absolutely right. For the group was the annual meeting of the Vampire Monarchs of the United States.

The desks were arranged alphabetically, by state. At one end was the Vampire Queen of Alabama. At the other end was the Vampire King of Wyoming. Most desks only held one chair and user, but a few held two. Each desk also had a nameplate announcing what state its occupant ruled, as well as a briefing book on the agenda. At one of the desks that had two occupants, a pretty, petite blonde girl in a black dress suppressed a desire to sigh and subtly glanced at her wristwatch.

Abby, to put it bluntly, was bored. This was her first time attending the conference, since she and Owen were appointed Vampire King and Queen of Montana back in the summer. This was their third night here in Maine and was scheduled to be the last. Right now, the Magister was delivering a pompous sounding speech, telling them of the need to have absolute obedience to The Authority. The Magister, a vile and creepy little man, who almost all of the assembled vampires seemed to loathe, appeared to be directing his talk at certain members in the room. He emphasized certain words while affixing various vampires with a glare. Abby wondered just what these vampires got up to back in their home states. She had a pretty good suspicion that right now, all of them just wanted the Magister to finish up so they could close the proceedings and begin their journeys home.

Abby looked to her side and saw that Owen –handsomely turned out in a black suit, with a white shirt and deep red neck tie- appeared to be finding this somewhat more interesting than she was. Of course, he still found everything to do with being a vampire, immensely interesting. Abby figured it was because he was still new to it all. Indeed, he'd only been a vampire now for a year and a half, this month. (Abby thought it would be safe to say he was the youngest vampire in the room.)

Owen definitely seemed to have found this three-night conference more interesting. All in all, it wasn't that complicated. The first night was a welcoming of all the vampire monarchs, followed by some socializing. (Abby noted that many of the monarchs were clearly politicking there, likely with the aim of joining The Authority themselves.) The second night was the business session, with all the monarchs giving a report on their state. Owen and Abby's report was the briefest one of the fifty. As they were the only two vampires currently living in Montana, a report on what was going on there took a very short time. (With some monarchs, of the more populous states taking up to twenty minutes or more to give their report, Owen and Abby actually received applause for being so brief.)

This night was simply closing speeches by a member of The Authority, as well as the Magister. Nan Flanagan, a personable blonde-haired vampire, who seemed to be the main spokesperson for the Authority also gave a brief talk. In Abby's opinion, Nan Flanagan was the best speaker there. She at least knew how to connect with the audience and didn't try to intimidate the way the Magister did. She and Owen had met Nan earlier in the year when they were jointly named the monarchs for the state of Montana. (Abby smiled as she recalled what Nan had said to them. "Don't screw up…and congratulations Your Majesties." Abby had to admire someone who got to the point like that.)

So, their three nights in Maine hadn't been THAT onerous. But, Abby definitely wanted to get back home to the ranch. She wanted to sleep in their own bed again when the sun rose, versus the coffins that had been provided for the assembled monarchs. Abby, incredibly, had never followed the vampire cliché and actually slept in a coffin during the day in all of her long life. Owen, however, seemed to think that it was the highlight of the trip. His exact words were "It's just like Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee!" Abby had to admit that Owen's enthusiasm helped sugarcoat things a little bit for her. As well, the coffins were built for fully sized adults. That, fortunately, meant that Abby and Owen could share a single coffin together. If they'd been forced to sleep separately, Abby would have been MOST displeased. (After over a year and a half of having Owen there when she went to sleep at dawn, she didn't think she'd be able to rest if she wasn't curled up next to him.) As well, a dress code seemed to be in force, so Abby had been obligated to wear a rather stuffy looking black dress these three nights. And, worst of all…she had to actually wear shoes. (The first thing she planned to do once they left here was get these shoes off. When she got home, they were going into a closet until NEXT year's conference.)

As well, some of the other vampires here made her…nervous. To their one side, his face showing that he wasn't at all impressed with The Authority was Russell Edgington, the Vampire King of Mississippi. He was almost 3,000 years old and had made no effort to conceal his contempt at the idea of Owen and Abby being appointed Monarchs. He also had nothing but derision at their rule of no fatal attacks upon humans in their state. He made little attempt to hide his belief that vampires were a Master Race that should not hesitate to dominate the human race. In many ways, he reminded Abby FAR too much of Jebediah. Both regarded themselves as superior and meant to rule over humans. Of course, there WERE differences. Jebediah has lusted after her body. Russell…didn't go that way. (He was married to a male vampire named Talbot; who he'd turned some 700 years before.) Abby shivered when she allowed herself to think of what would have happened if Jebediah and Russell had ever met. The two megalomaniacs would have been a dangerous mix.

Further down, was Sophie-Anne Leclerq, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana. She was around 500 years old…and in Abby's opinion was completely insane. Abby didn't know if she'd been like that as a human, or had gone that way over the centuries of being undead. All Abby knew was that the woman made her uneasy. The previous night, following the wrap-up of official business, she'd cornered Owen and Abby and insisted on joining her for some Yahtzee. Not that Abby didn't enjoy that game, but having an insane vampire Queen, who also made subtle passes at her all through the game, didn't provide an enjoyable playing atmosphere. Luckily after Owen won, she decided to retire to her coffin before dawn.

On the opposite side –both literally and figuratively- was Frank Delgardo, the Vampire King of New Jersey. Abby had to admit that he was a refreshing change from Russell Edgington or Sophie-Anne Leclerq. Instead of the suit and tie the Vampire Kings were supposed to wear, Frank was wearing a black t-shirt under his Italian blazer (the sleeves were rolled up like Don Johnson on that new show, _Miami Vice)_ with gold chains prominently displayed. His hair was heavily coated with mousse. And, he was about the only vampire Abby had ever seen who actually had gone for a sprayed-on tan look. Abby wondered if his look was unique to New Jersey vampires…or just New Jersey in general.

Her attention was brought back to the front podium where Nan Flanagan was wrapping up.

"And, may we show our appreciation to the King of Maine, Barnabas Collins, for allowing up to use his house for our conference this year. Your Majesty, could you please rise?"

Down the row from Abby and Owen, a tall, very thin vampire rose to accept the applause of assembled monarchs. Abby studied him. His face was pale…very pale, even by vampire standards. Rather stringy black hair hung over his forehead. In addition to his dark suit, he wore a jewel around his neck, a signet ring on his finger and seemed to be carrying a walking stick with a wolf's head carving upon it. Barnabas Collins acknowledged the applause and sat down again as Nan Flanagan spoke.

"I hereby declare the proceedings of the Monarchs Conference for 1985 are closed." She said with a flourish. The vampires began to rise and make their way to the upstairs rooms to gather their luggage for their journeys home.

Owen smiled at Abby as they rose.

"What did you think?" He asked her.

"It was interesting. But, I just want to get home."

"Me too" Owen said to her.

"What time is the car arriving for us?"

Owen looked at a slip of paper from his pocket. "Around midnight. We'll be at the airport in Portland a little after one. The Authority's plane will have us in Missoula by five o'clock here, but it would be only three o'clock there. They'll have transportation waiting there for us and we'll be home by five. And, if something goes wrong we can always fly ourselves home and have our luggage sent after us."

"I can't wait." Abby sighed.

"Yeah, I…." Owen started, but then stopped as he saw an attendant approach them. "Yes?"

"Your Majesties" He said simply, handing them a letter that was folded and sealed with wax. Owen looked at Abby, a puzzled look on his face. He broke it open and they read the note, below the salutation to them.

_As I am made to understand, you will have a few hours at your disposal before the transportation to Portland arrives for you. I would very much like to offer you the hospitality of the main wing of Collinwood Manor until it arrives. I assure you, I have a matter of the greatest importance I need to discuss with you._

_Barnabas Collins_

"What do you think of that?" Owen asked his mate.

"I don't know. He looked at me very strangely when we were introduced the other night. I wonder if it has something to do with this. Let's find out what he wants." Abby decided.

After informing the attendant that they'd accept Barnabas' offer, Owen and Abby (having happily stowed her shoes in her suitcase) were led along a corridor that stopped at a great wooden door. From the other side, footsteps were heard approaching. Bolts were thrown back and the heavy door was pulled open, to reveal Barnabas Collins.

"Ah, Master Lindquist and Miss Marshall; I am delighted you could accept my invitation. Please, come in. the old wing does not do Collinwood justice. Let me welcome you to my family's home." The tall vampire said as he gestured for the two younger vampires to cross over the threshold.

Owen and Abby followed Barnabas down a hallway and emerged into the foyer of Collinwood. Owen gasped with surprise. He'd never seen a house this large or elegant. A huge marble fireplace was off to one side. No fire was lit, as vampires didn't need one to keep warm. Above it was a large portrait of Barnabas, wearing a three-piece suit, posing with his cane.

"Barnabas?" Came a voice from another room. "Is the conference over?"

"Yes my dear. Can you come out? We have guests." Barnabas called back.

An attractive woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, emerged from a study. She had shoulder length dark hair and had very pale skin as well, denoting her clearly as another fellow vampire. When she smiled though, it was genuinely warm and friendly.

"Victoria, this is Owen Lindquist and Abigail Marshall, the King and Queen of Montana. My wife, Victoria" Barnabas said politely.

"Well, how do you do? I'm Victoria Collins. It's so nice to meet you." She said with a friendly nod to Owen. When she turned to Abby she stopped as she looked at her. She turned back to Barnabas.

"Barnabas…You were right."

Owen and Abby shared a puzzled look at what this woman was referring to. She seemed then to shake off her surprise.

"Welcome to Collinwood Manor." She said with a sweep of her arms.

"Thank you" Abby said as she looked around. Collinwood was indeed a fabulous looking house. It was even larger and more elegant than Marshall Hall had been. "It really feels different here than in the other part we were in."

"Ah, the old wing has never really been used. I thought it was perfect to host the conference in. This part of Collinwood though, is where we truly make our home."

"Is it just the two of you in the house?"

"Oh no, it's our whole family who lives her."

"They're vampires as well?"

"No, Victoria and I are the only vampires within the family."

"You live with humans?"

"We live with our family, who are indeed human…Or, at least, not vampires" Barnabas said, with the last part under his breath. "There is my niece –many generations removed- Elizabeth. She is the actual owner of this house. There is her daughter Carolyn and Carolyn's husband Joe Haskell. As well, there's Elizabeth's nephew David and another distant cousin Amy Jennings. As well, we have an employee, Willie, who may as well be family as he has remained with us through some bad times in the past."

"Oh, we're not judging. Owen and I live with his biological family. We've lived with his grandfather for well over two and a half years now. There's also Owen's little brother living with us now too."

"Ah yes, my father said to me many times, that of all the wealth a person might acquire in a lifetime, family is truly all the wealth that matters."

"Is your family here now?" Owen asked.

"No, I'm afraid not. I thought that it might be best for them not to be here this week. I am aware that some of our colleagues don't –as a rule- enjoy or believe in close relations with humans as we do. Carolyn and Elizabeth are out on the west coast, inspecting some of our business concerns there. Joe flew out with them and they decided to have a bit of a holiday afterwards by seeing some of the sights in California for the week. They called yesterday and said they were staying at a place called Disneyland. David and Amy are both in Boston, where they go to school. Willie, we sent on a holiday to Tennessee, where he's taking a tour of the Jack Daniels distilleries."

"That doesn't sound like much of a vacation." Abby said, comparing it to Disneyland.

"Oh believe us, if you knew Willie, you'd know that's his dream vacation." Victoria said with a knowing smile.

"Yes, but the most crucial part was that none of them would be in Collinwood this week. I refuse to put any of my family at risk. As soon as the last attendee of the Conference departs, their invitations shall be revoked and none of them will be able to enter Collinwood again without a new one. Dare I say, I don't think that measure would extend to the two of you as well."

"Um thanks…But Owen and I are wondering why you wanted to see us."

Barnabas bowed slightly. "Please excuse me. I forgot that my note seemed to suggest a sense of urgency. Please come with us." Barnabas said as he led them into the study Victoria had been working in. It was warmly lit with antique brass desk lamps that nicely accentuated the green leather chairs and darkly polished desk, upon which papers were scattered.

"Please excuse the mess. I was finalizing plans for the Collinsport Thanksgiving Parade next week."

"You have a parade in the town?" Owen asked. From what he'd seen of it, Collinsport was not a large community.

"Well, it's more of an annual party that our cannery sponsors. We have games, prizes, contests and the like. And, we also make sure that every family in town gets a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, if they can't afford one themselves. We'll do it again, next month, for Christmas as well." Victoria said proudly. Over the last decade, she'd undertaken the role of heading up the effort to have the Collins family name improved on in the town. As the town's largest employer, the Collins family had become begrudgingly respected amongst the local population. Victoria's project of philanthropy and community togetherness has resulted in people starting to like the Collins family…even if they were still regarded as very odd, with Barnabas the oddest of the lot. Victoria had proven so adept in her work in rehabilitating the family's name and image that she'd actually begun to hire herself out to people who needed assistance in public relations. She was beginning to develop a good professional reputation...albeit known for only meeting with clients at night.

"That's really nice of you." Abby said with genuine warmth as she looked at some framed clippings of local newspapers. It showed the Collins family funding a home for retired fishermen, their cannery being cited as one of the top ten workplaces in the state, etc.

"Thank you" Barnabas said with pride at his wife's achievements in rehabilitating the family's image. "However, I think that what you really want to see is on this desk." Barnabas said as he pointed a long white finger at a series of framed pictures.

"What is…Oh my God!" Abby gasped as she looked at the pictures.

"Abby…It's you." Owen said simply.

In the frames were pictures of a familiar looking girl. In fact, it was as if it was Abby in the pictures. Or, an older version of Abby.

"Remarkable, isn't it?" Barnabas said simply. Abby, was only able to nod dumbly.

"Is that…?"

"Yes, that's Carolyn. One was taken some twelve years ago. The second was at her high school graduation in 1975. The third is from her graduation from Dartmouth College in 1979. And the fourth is from her wedding to Joe in 1981."

"But…She looks the same, or at least almost the same." Abby said. The girl in the picture, despite having to be in her late twenties now, could easily still be mistaken for a teenager.

"You noted that too? Yes, I believe that's due to her condition."

"What condition?"

"She's a werewolf."

"What?" Abby said.

"She was bitten by a werewolf when she was an infant. The condition began to manifest itself at puberty. Luckily, she's able to control herself when the change comes upon her. We've discovered that slowed aging is a by-product of the condition."

"How was she bitten at that age?" Owen asked.

"It's a rather long story. I'm eternally regretful that I'm the indirect cause of it. It was part of a centuries long vendetta by someone I treated badly. I regret those actions…But, the retribution against both my family and myself were surely beyond all proportion."

"What did you do?"

"In the late 18th Century, I spurned the affections of a witch…after enjoying carnal relations with her, I confess."

Abby and Victoria shared a look that said they agreed with Barnabas' self-assessment that he'd been a cad. "What did she do?" Abby asked.

"She caused my fiancée to commit suicide by leaping off of Widow's Hill. She turned me into a vampire and then had me buried alive for 196 years. In the ensuing time, she caused unhappiness for generations of my family. She nearly destroyed our business empire by opening a rival cannery and using her powers to assure its success at our cost. She turned Carolyn into a werewolf. She killed David's mother. Finally, she tried to raise another lynch mob against us and destroyed both our cannery and Collinwood." Barnabas finished.

"Ok…You were right. That was pretty excessive." Abby admitted.

"Yes, but in a way, she helped us. This family finally came together when we forced to stand against her. We rebuilt our cannery and took over hers. We rebuilt Collinwood just as it was stone for stone. She tried to destroy this family, but she merely repaired and solidified our familial bonds." Barnabas said.

"And she helped make your decision for you." Victoria said with a smile. Abby turned to her with a puzzled look.

"Oh, Barnabas was trying to find a cure then. He thought he couldn't be with me any other way. Angelique –that's the witch's name- put a spell on me that caused me to fall from Widow's Hill. Barnabas saved me by turning me into a vampire."

"That's a coincidence." Abby mused.

"What is?"

"The man who turned me into a vampire, tried to kill Owen to hurt me. To save Owen, I turned him into a vampire."

"Who was this man who turned you into a vampire?" Barnabas asked.

"His name was Jebediah Marshall. He was my uncle in my human life."

"Jebediah Marshall?" Barnabas repeated the name to himself.

"Yes"

"I believe I heard, some five years ago, members of The Authority declare that he was a threat to our existence by his blatant feeding and disregard for turning people. What happened to him?"

"Owen and I kind of took care of him."

"Took care of him?"

"We bound him up in silver chains and left him on our grandfather's driveway until the sun rose."

"Ah, I daresay you solved a large problem for The Authority."

"Yeah…Doing that was kind of what got us appointed King and Queen for Montana."

"A most fitting reward….Wait…Did you say Marshall?"

"Yes"

"How foolish of me not have realized it before!" Barnabas said, as he walked over to a bookshelf and removed an old, leather bound book.

"Realized what?"

"Your surname, and your amazing resemblance to Carolyn. I had the answer right here." Barnabas said as he flipped the pages. He stopped at a two-page flowchart.

"What's that?"

"It is the Collins family tree, going back over from the turn of the 20th Century to middle of the 18th Century." Barnabas said as he traced back the lineage. "Ah, here it is. My father, Joshua Collins; he wed Naomi, my mother. Her maiden name was Marshall." Barnabas said as Abby's eyes went wide with realization. "It appears that you and I are blood relations."

"Are you sure?" Abby asked.

"Yes. My parents were Naomi and Joshua Collins and, when I was a child, they immigrated from England to Maine –of course, back then it was still part of Massachusetts. According to the family history, when my mother Naomi is first mentioned, it says that members of her family had already immigrated to the Colonies, but they settled in Virginia. Abigail, what was your father's name?"

"James"

Barnabas looked at the book. "Yes, it says in a footnote that my mother had two brothers, James and Jebediah. They were very wealthy planters along the James River, with Jebediah disappearing from the records in the early 1760's."

"That fits. He was turned and then turned me in 1763." Abby said as she breathlessly tried to process the information.

"It would seem then…That you and I are first cousins." Barnabas said with a smile. "Abigail...Welcome home." Barnabas said, knowing that he was repeating the words Elizabeth said to him thirteen years before.

"Wow…I never knew about that branch of the family."

"That's quite understandable. In that era, as you recall, it was easy for people to lose touch with one another; especially as there was such a great distance –in both geography and culture- between the Virginia colonies and the ones in New England." Barnabas said. He then turned to Owen. "Of course, as Abigail's mate, you are a part of this family too."

"This is a lot to take in." Abby said. She looked at the other pictures on the mantle, of Barnabas' family…her family now, too. "Who are all the rest of the people here?"

Victoria stepped forward and pointed to the picture of an elegant looking, middle-aged but still very attractive woman. "This is Elizabeth. She is, I guess you can say, the head of the family. She still runs all of our businesses, although Carolyn is learning how to run them as well, so she can take over someday. She pointed to another picture of a tall, lean young man with dark hair. He was wearing a graduation gown and posing in front of a sign that read "Congratulations Bowdoin College, Class of 1984".

"That's David Collins. He's Elizabeth's nephew. He's actually the reason I first came here, to Collinwood. I was hired to be his governess in 1972. This is from his graduation from Bowdoin last June."

"He's in Boston now, you said."

"Yes" Barnabas answered with extreme pride. "He's in his second year in medical school at Harvard."

"You sound very proud of him."

"Oh, indeed I am. He's had much to overcome in his life, but he's not only survived but excelled. I regard him like he was my own son." Barnabas said proudly.

Just then, a book loudly fell over. Barnabas and Victoria looked at each other.

"His mother is proud of him too." Barnabas explained.

"I thought this witch killed her." Owen said.

"She did…Her ghost haunts Collinwood. David actually is able to talk with her when he's home." Victoria said. She next went to a picture of David, on what appeared to be the beach below Widow's Hill. He had his arms around a young girl, with brown hair, a thin but athletic build and a friendly face.

"This is Amy Jennings. She's a distant cousin who came to live here late in 1973."

Abby looked at the rather intimate way Amy and David were holding each other. It was clear to her, from the body language, that they were lovers. "They seem close." She said tactfully.

"Yes…Luckily Amy is a very distant relation, and it turns out her mother was adopted by our family, so they're not actually biologically related; which is lucky for David, since he seemed to like Amy the minute he met her" Victoria said.

Owen smiled at Abby at hearing this. He could well recall what it was like to fall for someone almost as soon as you met them, even at a very young age.

"She's in Boston too?" Abby asked.

"Yes, she's studying for a Master's Degree there."

Finally Victoria went back to Carolyn's wedding picture and pointed to the dark haired young man who was the bridegroom.

"That's Joe Haskell, Carolyn's husband. He handles all of our legal affairs, as well as having a general law practice in town."

Abby sat down on the leather sofa that ran against the study wall. "This is so much to take in." She looked up and a faint smile appeared on her face. "I must admit that it is nice to know that I have other relatives somewhere."

Owen sat down next to Abby and put his arm around her. He looked up and did a near double-take.

"What is it?" Victoria asked.

"That mirror…" Owen said as he pointed to the wall. "Barnabas is standing right in front of it, but…"

"But he casts no reflection?"

"No"

"Neither of us cast a reflection."

"How's that possible though? Abby and I cast reflections in the mirror."

"Yes" Barnabas said thoughtfully as he sat down in one of the chairs. "I've noticed that other vampires do tend to defy the cliché I see in these…movies…about vampires not being able to cast a reflection."

"Do you know why though?"

"I am not absolutely certain. I can only surmise is that it's because I was turned into a vampire through magical means, rather than being bitten. As such, I guess I can be termed a slightly different breed of vampire –for lack of a better word. As well, all progeny of mine would share my characteristics."

"How do you shave or comb your hair?" Abby asked.

"Joe, Willie or David assist me; while Carolyn assists Victoria." Barnabas said while Owen nodded.

"I have a question for you, Barnabas."

"What is it, Abigail?"

"Um, first off, it's Abby. Second, how did you get to become King of Maine?" Abby asked her newly discovered cousin. Barnabas smiled sardonically.

"It appears that there is no end to the coincidences that mark our lives…Abby. Like you, I did a service to The Authority and was rewarded by being named King of Maine."

"What service was that?" Owen asked.

"I handled a rather large problem here in Maine, almost six years ago."

"What happened?" Abby asked

"I had to bring a vampire colony under control."

"What?"

"Ten years ago, this fall, an ancient vampire from Europe arrived in Maine. His goal, it seems was to try and turn as many people here into vampires as he could."

"How could he want to do that? Didn't he know The Authority wouldn't allow it?" Owen said. He knew that one central tenet of The Authority was that the world's vampire population couldn't grow too large –especially not in one place. If it did, it could lead to large scale bloodbaths as hungry vampires hunted for food and that would inevitably lead to exposure of their existence. (And the belief that vampires were simply a product of Hollywood and folklore was one of their best defenses against the human world.)

"Kurt Barlow had no connections with The Authority and I doubt he would have cared if he had. He was brought to America at the invitation of long dead devil worshipper named Hubert Marsten. Barlow settled into Marsten's old house in Jerusalem's Lot."

"Where's that?"

"It was in Cumberland County, in the Falmouth-Portland area. Barlow arrived there, from what we've been able to trace, in the middle of September in 1975. The first positive victim we identified as dying on September 24th. Two weeks later, over a third of the town had been turned into vampires. Anyone who hadn't been attacked, around that time, realized the truth and fled town. The Authority's investigators determined that almost five hundred vampires were turned inside that time. Barlow, it appears, was destroyed by some townspeople who fought back prior to them fleeing themselves, but the damage was done. A year later, the town burned down in a forest fire. It's believed that vampire hunters started it to drive the vampires out. It's uncertain how many escaped, but within a year, attacks began again. People in Falmouth, by now, had realized the truth. It would only have been a matter of time before the rest of the outside world knew about it." Victoria explained.

"That was when I was contacted." Barnabas said. "I was requested to go to Jerusalem's Lot and –as they put it- 'sort out' the problem, however I saw fit."

"How'd you do that?" Abby asked. She was thinking that this Barlow's plan was something Russell Edgington or her uncle would've approved of.

"I went there around the time of the full moon, and brought Victoria, Carolyn and a few other family members and progeny with me. I'll spare you the details, but in the end, we were forced to destroy a great number of the vampires there –the True Death, as The Authority would term it. The ones we didn't destroy, were convinced to, shall we say, correct their behaviour. A non-aggression pact was reached with members of the surrounding community. And, to be certain it was followed a progeny of mine –from around the time of our final clash with Angelique- was left there and has since been appointed as my sheriff for that area. She's kept things under control there." Barnabas explained. "And for resolving such a great problem, they named me King of Maine."

Abby relaxed against Owen and smiled. She wondered how they could begin to explain all of this to Grandpa Oscar when they got home.

Later that evening, Barnabas filled four wine glasses from the contents of a heated bottle of donated blood. He and Victoria had given Owen and Abby a tour of Collinwood and extended an invitation for them to return to visit whenever they wanted to (although it was suggested that coming when the moon was full might not be the best of ideas as Carolyn could be…moody…in the days leading up to it). Barnabas even extended the invitation to Owen's grandfather and his little brother, declaring that he considered them family too. Abby was thinking that Oscar and Johnny might actually enjoy visiting coastal Maine in the summer or in the early autumn when the leaves changed. She and Owen would be sure to extend Barnabas' invitation. Owen and Abby, on their part, had said that anyone from Collinwood would be welcome at the Alfredson ranch in Montana, if they ever felt a desire to take a holiday out west.

Once he filled all four glasses, Barnabas turned to his family –both old and new members.

"I'll be brief; as I am aware your transportation to the Portland airport will be arriving here before long. I just wish to propose a toast expressing my indescribable pleasure at having learned of the existence of new members of this family. My father said family was the greatest treasure anyone could have. Well, I daresay that I am truly a wealthy man for having such a wonderful family here these last thirteen years…and am even more-so now in having found a new relative." Barnabas raised his glass of blood. "To our family."

"To our family." The other three vampires repeated as they raised their glasses and took a drink in celebration of their discovery of a new branch of their family tree.


End file.
